03/03/2025

Hiring Freezes, Fewer Grad Students in Higher Education

Funding uncertainty hits colleges

Some universities are freezing hiring, admitting fewer graduate students and warning that recent federal changes and proposals pose an existential threat to higher education.

A U.S. judge last month put a temporary block on Trump administration orders for deep cuts to federal funding rates that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides to support overhead costs for research at academic institutions. But the uncertainty around that and other potential federal actions has already prompted some university officials to scramble contingency plans and incise budgets where they can, in ways that could have a lasting impact on scientific research in this country.

"We talk a lot about being in this intense competition with China for technology and science," said L. Rafael Reif, president emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Is this a way in which we can compete? This is a very difficult time to create such a mess."

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.